Outdoor decks have become increasingly popular in residential home construction. Homes and apartments, as well as a variety of other buildings, often incorporate exterior decks into their design. Additionally, decks are commonly added onto existing structures. These decks provide convenient spaces for a variety of outdoor activities, including cook-outs, dining, and sunbathing, as well as other leisure activities.
Typical deck construction includes: (1) a number of vertical posts which support the remaining structure above the ground; (2) horizontal beams supported above the ground by the vertical posts; (3) a number of horizontal joists, parallel to and uniformly spaced apart from one another and anchored to the beams; and (4) a floor surface of decking planks arranged horizontally and above and perpendicular to the joists.
Wood products have traditionally been the primary source of materials for use in decking construction. However, wood products are becoming increasingly scarce due to the harvesting of trees at ever faster rates and the rather limited rate at which timber resources have been replenished. Also, environmental concerns and environmental regulations directed to the conservation or preservation of forests tend to restrict the availability of wood products. With diminishing availability of timber resources, wood products are becoming increasingly expensive. There is, therefore, a substantial need for long-lasting substitute construction materials that can lessen the need to harvest timber resources.
Moreover, wood decks are usually made from pressure-treated lumber. As part of the treatment of such lumber during the manufacturing process, the lumber absorbs chromated copper arsenic. Before the treated lumber is delivered to local lumber yards and home centers, it is cured outside where some of the chromated copper arsenic leaches out and winds up in the ground (and perhaps the water table).
It has been found that one potential approach to addressing the above need is to provide substitute replacement decking products made of plastic, rather than wood. Because the deck surface must support substantial weight and foot traffic, however, the replacement product needs to be stable and rigid. The material should also be capable of economical manufacture, and be relatively inexpensive. It also needs to be easily fabricated and used in the field.
A variety of plastic building products are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,603 describes a three layer synthetic construction material made from recycled waste thermoplastic synthetic resin material and cellulose fiber aggregate. This material includes face surfaces consisting essentially of re-hardened fused and rolled thermoplastic synthetic resin material bits, and an intervening core material consisting essentially of a compressed non-homogenous mixture of cellulose aggregate material bits and re-hardened fused thermoplastic synthetic resin material bits.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,245 describes an apparatus for producing a light structural board of thermoplastic resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,458 describes a simulated log made from a cast polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe, selectively filled with a hard cast foam or a bead type foam. This patent further describes that the cast PVC pipe is first manufactured and then subsequently filled with the foam filler.
A common disadvantage suffered by previously known synthetic building materials, however, is that plastic surfaces provided thereby tend to be more slippery than traditional wood products. This problem is exacerbated when the building product is used in a decking and the decking surface becomes wet, as from rain or being washed. Additionally, previously known synthetic materials are less wear-resistant than traditional wood decking, and therefore, are more prone to scuffing and to other damage from foot traffic.
Accordingly, it can be seen there is yet a need in the art for a replacement decking having a surface coating which provides a non-slip walking surface, which resists wear from foot traffic and which can be produced and applied economically. It is to the provision of such a decking that the present invention is primarily directed.